4 AM
by Tom Tomorrow
Summary: The digital clock on the bedside table glows a blurry quarter past four. Who the hell is calling at- Her phone buzzes again. "This had better be good." ... A unusual phone call sends everyone into a frenzy.


Something's buzzing.

No, not buzzing. Vibrating.

Her phone is vibrating.

Maggie blearily opens her eyes.

Sees almost nothing as she's greeted by the pitch blackness of the night.

The digital clock on the bedside table glows a blurry quarter past four.

Who the hell is calling at-

Her phone buzzes again.

And the detective groans softly as she curls away from the soft embrace of her girlfriend.

Gropes around in the empty dark.

Alex doesn't stir.

"This had better be good."

She answers groggily, not even bothering to hide the sourness in her tone.

Because if someone's going to call her at goddamn four in the morning on her day off, they're surely going to face her wrath.

"Maggie? Is- is Alex there?"

The familiar voice sobers her up immediately.

Kara.

Sounding breathy and disembodied and timid and entirely unlike Kara.

"Kara?"

The deceives begins, sensing something is off, as she blinks the remnants of sleep away.

But the blonde is still speaking, rambling with a hiccup and a stutter.

As if she's there, but not really there. Merely existing.

"I-I tried c-calling her, but… but… there was no answer."

Maggie knows the reason for this. Alex's phone is broken.

Currently sitting in a bag of rice on the kitchen counter, having dropped in a puddle of rain after a night of alcohol-induced tipsiness.

The detective sits up completely. Cold dread rushes through her veins.

Something is wrong.

Wrong enough that she's already shaking Alex awake.

Wrong enough that she's already swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

"Kara, what's wrong?"

She strains to hear something from the other end as she flicks the bedside lamp on.

Tries to catch a hint off anything that can help her decipher what was happening.

But there's nothing but stuttered, strained breathing in response.

And when Kara does speak again, moments later, it's not even a direct answer.

"Maggie, I-I really, really wanna… I want my sister…"

The elder Danvers is still groaning awake beside her.

"Mags, it's not even morn-"

The detective fumbles for the speaker button on her cell.

And Kara's voice fills the room.

It does the trick.

The brunette's tired complaint trails off.

Then her girlfriend is tensing and sitting up in one fluid moment.

Her expression shifting instantly from cranky tiredness to confusion and concern.

"Kara? Kara! What's wrong?"

Alex is asking.

And Maggie is already up and moving.

Pulling on a pair of jeans, looking for her keys.

Knowing that this, whatever this is, won't be resolved over a ten-minute phone call.

"A-Alex… I think… Alex… I can't hear their heartbeats."

The tall blonde's tone shifts ever so slightly.

Goes from airy and soft-spoken to a slightly slurred mumble.

And Maggie has known Kara long enough to know how sensitive her hearing is.

Which means that if she can't hear them…

Whoever them is…

"What do you mean? Kara, whose heartbeat- Never mind, where are you?"

The brunette, still shaking away the vestiges asleep, seems to catch on to this as well.

Because she's up and moving now too.

Because lack of heartbeats mean multiple deceased.

Meaning Kara is out there with multiple deceased.

And just because she's a hero, doesn't mean she's used to the dead.

Or dealing with them.

"I-I didn't mean too… I think they're… I can't hear them moving…"

It's an odd choice of words.

Words that are strained and quiet.

Words that don't answer any part of the question asked, but instead shed light on something else entirely.

 _She didn't mean too…_

But no, the detective tells herself.

Supergirl doesn't kill. And Kara Danvers certainly doesn't.

"Kara, it's okay, it's okay. I just need you to tell me where you are."

Her girlfriend is forcibly calm, shrugging on a jacket, as she tries to coax an answer from her sister.

But Maggie can hear the strain in Alex's own tone.

And the younger Danvers is quite obviously out of it.

'They were there w-when I walked in. I didn't s-see them. Rao… Rao…"

She sounds so small. Sounds so scared. So far away.

And she isn't answering the goddamn question.

" **Kara**. Where. Are. You."

Alex asks, begs again. Enunciating every word firmly and steadily.

Maggie hovers steadfast next to her.

Unwittingly holding her breath, waiting for an answer, as she clenches the cool metal of the car keys in her fist.

The detective's service weapon lies comfortably in her waistband.

And she silently hands Alex her own gun as they make for the door.

"I d-didn't s-see them. They… were b-behind m-my door… and I wasn't even looking."

Her apartment.

She supposes it's where they should have first assumed.

Kara isn't the night owl, she claims to be.

And even though they have a clear destination now, neither of the women relax.

"Listen, listen Kara. Maggie and I are on our way. Stay where you are, okay?"

They're already at the door.

Exiting to the stairs, even as Kara, for some bizarre reason, begins to protest.

"Rao… You can't tell Maggie. S-she's a cop, Alexugh. I don't wanna… don't wanna go to jail."

Maggie inwardly winces at the slurred mess Kara is making of Alex's name.

And doesn't speak up to remind Kara that she was the one to who called the detective.

That she's on speaker. That she already knows.

That she doesn't give a damn about her detective duties, until she can assure that Kara is okay.

Alex doesn't either.

Instead, she exchanges a worried glance with the detective.

"Kara, did they… Can you…? How bad are you hurt?"

Because it's quite obvious at this point, that the potential casualties Kara is alluding too aren't the only reason she sounds so shell shocked.

So airy.

So out of it.

And it takes a moment for Alex to figure out how to ask that question.

There's a significant, shaky pause.

Then…

"I… I can't get it out."

That's enough to send them corralling into the parking garage.

Flying towards the car.

It doesn't matter that they don't know what ' _it'_ is.

Just that _it_ is bad.

"Can't get what out?"

Alex pushes gently.

Pushing for, demanding for an answer.

Trying to get a better handle on the situation, so they know what they're walking into.

As it threatens to fall apart.

"I.. It's sti-stuck. I… I…I c-can't… get it out."

Tears are audible now.

The hitch in her breath and the slurred stutter even more so.

It's more than enough impetus for the added urgency in their pace.

Maggie drives.

Without restraint.

Breaking at least three road violations as she speeds through quiet, empty streets.

Knuckles white against the steering wheel as she listens.

Listens to Kara's slurred mumbles grow more and more incoherent.

Listens as Alex shifts from logical questioning to incessant rambling.

Realizes that the brunette is pretty much only trying to keep Kara talking at this point.

And within minutes they're in front the younger Danvers's apartment.

A few minutes more and they're in front of her door.

They pause at the entrance. If only for a second.

The door is already ajar.

Barely hanging on it's hinges.

It looks like a tragedy that hasn't been written yet.

And when they push into the room, it is catastrophe that greets them

The couch is turned on its side.

The kitchen is in shambles.

The table in splinters.

The television isn't even there.

Pebbled glass peppers the floor.

And there's a gaping hole in one of the walls.

There is no sign of Kara. Or the other indviduals.

They nod at each other.

Unspoken words flowing on to each other.

And Maggie peels to the left as Alex goes right.

She sees the first man while crossing into the bedroom.

His neck tilts at an awkward angle.

A smattering of bruises pepper his skin.

And it becomes clear that this is the man the flew through the wall.

The detective feels for a pulse.

When there isn't one, she yells a clear.

Good riddance.

Alex's own affirmation echoes in the distance.

So the detective ventures further into the room.

Shoving away torn pillows, and cabinet drawers, and the television set with her feet as she tries to carve a pattern forward.

And it is then that she sees her.

Kara.

The blonde lies on her side.

Facing her as Maggie inches inside.

Feeble shudders coursing through her muscular form.

Crimson congealing, in an all to concerning manner, in a neat little pool around her.

The blonde doesn't look up.

But as she gets closer, she can see the alien's lips are turning blue.

Can see the green lines that course up her neck.

"Kara."

She whispers.

But the blonde continues gasping.

Continues shuddering.

Continues looking directly at the floor.

The detective slides to her knees next to her.

Ignoring the way, the blood squelches beneath her.

"ALEX! She's in here!"

Maggie yells over her shoulder as she sets her service weapon down.

Tries to figure out where all this red is coming from.

It takes mere seconds to find the culprit.

The hilt of a bow staff.

Rammed between the middle of her left rib cage.

Just above the small of her back.

And she has reason to suspect that if she pulled it out, the metal would glow green.

Goddamn it.

Then Alex is there.

Appearing out of nowhere.

Seeing Kara.

Seeing the bow staff.

"Hey... Hey… Kara, we're here. We're here."

Kara gaze shifts upwards at the sight of her sister.

Blinking as if seeing them both for the first time.

"I d-didn't mean t-too. But I c-couldn't stop t-them without… without…"

Kara mumbles out, still trying to justify the deaths of the men, as another tremor shutters its way through her body.

The hilt shifts with it.

Along with a fresh wave of crimson.

And the detective doesn't know how much blood the Kryptoniain has.

Nor does she know how much she can lose.

But she's sure that this is more than enough.

"Shh. Shh. You did great. You did great, Kara."

Alex placates soothingly.

Covering the younger woman's hand gently with her own.

Sweeping her thumb over the blonde's bruised and bleeding knuckles as she turns to get a better angle of the bow staff.

Kara's expression crumples under her touch.

"It... it... hurts…"

"I know… I know… Don't think about it okay? Put it out of your head."

Alex looks over her sister to the detective.

And in a quiet voice, that only she is meant to hear, her girlfriend mutters.

"We need to take it out."

Out.

Out of her.

And her face must say it all because Alex is explaining.

"It's kryptonite. The longer we leave it in, the more damage it's going to do. I texted J'onn, the DEO is sending in a team, but if we don't… she doesn't have enough time to be waiting."

Alex's hands are trembling as she kneels over her sister.

With fear. Fear of what could happen if they don't anything.

Fear of what could happen if the DEO don't get there in time.

So Maggie nods.

"What can I do?"

The detective asks as Kara murmurs incomprehensibly from underneath them.

Something about how cold everything is. Even in the dead of summer.

"Can you get some… some towels? They're in the cabinets."

The detective shifts up, moves towards the doors.

"I-I see colors," the injured hero slurs out from behind her. "Do you see colors?"

Maggie swallows hard as she sifts through the drawers, grabbing the first pair of towels she sees.

"No. I don't see any colors."

Alex murmurs back.

Kara's gaze shifts lazily over to Maggie as she returns, and the detective can literally see the attentiveness trying to leave her eyes.

Fading in and out, threatening to be overcome with a cloudy haze.

Then there's a sudden spark of recognition as if she suddenly remembered something.

"Mag-gugh. Maggie… I'm-m m'sorry… for… for w-waking you up."

"It's fine. It's fine, Little Danvers. Don't worry about it."

Maggie assures as she lowers back down to her knees.

This is much more important.

Alex is turning her sister onto her stomach.

Ignoring her sister's moans of pain, when she does.

And the blade looks much worse from this angle.

But the elder Danvers is already wrapping a towel around its base before she can see.

It's only when her girlfriend motions for the detective to put pressure on her back, that Maggie realizes that Alex isn't going to tell Kara what's happening.

That she isn't going to tell Kara what they're about to do.

So she doesn't have time to tense up, silent rationale tells her.

But still…

The blonde groans under the pressure Maggie puts on her.

And Alex, with only slight hesitation, yanks at the blade.

Kara screams.

A blood-curdling one.

A pain filled one.

Writhing like a fish under Maggie's grip.

But the blade, though it's moved, is still there. Embedded deep.

And Alex looks away after the first unsuccessful pull.

Hiding the tears, the detective knows are there.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but we have to do it okay? We have to…"

Her girlfriend is murmuring as Kara sobs beneath her.

But still she pulls again.

Maggie turns away, after the second attempt fails.

Because it somehow, irrationally feels like they're making it worse.

It slides out completely after the third jerk.

Clatters to the floor.

And Alex is already shoving it away.

Kara isn't moving anymore. Is completely silent.

And it takes a moment, as Maggie presses towels against the wound, for her to realize that she's unconscious.

But unconscious, she supposes, is better than dead.

Sirens sound in the distance.

And Maggie knows it's the DEO.

Finally making their way to the apartment, as the glimmer of the rising sun pushes up onto the horizon.

"There were two more in the kitchen."

Alex mutters quietly as she sweeps hair out of Kara's face.

"Cadmus?"

"Probably."

"How did they know?"

"They always seem to know…"

They sit in silence for a moment more. Then…

" _Agent Danvers? Detective Sawyer?"_

J'onn.

Calling them from the entrance of Kara's decimated apartment.

"We're in the bedroom."

Alex calls out.

Maggie moves to get up.

They won't be getting any sleep anytime soon.


End file.
